Why is it important to pay attention to the muscle maintenance and holistic wellbeing of your horse?

The malfunctions of the muscles cause remarkable physical pain, that often represent themselves also as mental stress, whereupon the horse is considered as a “tricky individual”. The horse is stiff, nervous, it bucks, limps, moves “downhill”, doesn’t move straight, feels “lazy”, has balance issues etc…

The beginning of a problem can be identified and can be relieved by equine massage, equine shiatsu and equine kinesiology taping before it turns chronic.

The muscle damages caused by the stiffness of your horse’s muscles can be prevented by equine massage, equine shiatsu and equine kinesiology taping.

The mobility and flexibility of the horse are perquisites in different equine sports.

The tendon injuries and connective tissue injuries of the horse can be prevented by equine shiatsu, equine massage and equine kinesiology taping.

Equine Shiatsu

Equine Shiatsu includes “ordinary” equine massage, stretching of the limbs and mobilization of the joints. The classical massage techniques relax stressed, shortened muscles by affecting the muscle directly. Equine massage helps to dissolve those stiff “clumps” in the muscles of your horse, which helps to enlarge the ranges of motion. The elasticity of the muscles also decreases the injury risk.

Stretchinghelps to maintain the normal elasticity in the muscles, tendons, fascias, ligaments and joint capsules, which enables the normal mobility. Mobilizationimproves the metabolism of a joint capsule by removing the underpressure in the joint and releasing
the function of the joint.

Equine Shiatsu, alias the acupressure of the horse is adding manual pressure on the acupuncture points through massage. It affects the lymph circulation and blood circulation: when the masseuse presses the area where there is accumulated lactic acid, or there is stiffness, the circulation of that area improves. That makes even 80% of the lactic acid to move off and lets glycogen flow into it’s place, which is stored glucose of animals. Glucose is sugar that the muscles use as their source of energy.

Pressing the acupuncture points also affects the nervous system by activating the parasympathetic nervous system and thus relaxing the horse. Think about yourself for a moment: do your shoulders raise more easily towards your ears all tensed up when you’re
stressed up and worried or when you’re relaxed and carefree?

The acupuncture points are located in accordance with the joints, fascias and attachment points of the muscles. In terms of these locations, an important phenomenon is the piezoelectric effect, in which mechanical tension produces electrical energy. The fascias include collagen, which, under the effect of this mechanic pressure, changes its electrical charge. This sends an electrical impulse forward. Correctly performed acupressure can thus remarkably affect the activation or relaxation of desired muscles! A trained practitioner thus chooses the right areas to massage by inspecting the positions and habits of movement of the horse.

Equine Kinesiology Taping

Kinesiology taping improves the recovery and healing of the muscles after overwork or an injury. The mechanism of kinesiology tape is based on its lifting effect on the skin, which removes pressure from the under-skin tissues. As a result, there is less pressure on
the lymph circulation, blood circulation and pain receptors, so, their functioning normalizes, the edema dissolves and the pain gets relieved.

The relieving of the pressure also lets the fascias move more freely, furthering the normal elasticity, mobility and relieving the pain. Kinesiology tape can also be used to activate certain muscles due to different indications.

Let’s improve the training days of your horse: contact me and book an appointment!Or feel free to read more on the website.

Mira Nieminen

Mira Nieminen has been in contact with horses since she was a kid. At the age of seventeen she worked at two different stables in Spain, mainly to exercise young horses not quite suitable for lesson use yet, and doing stable work. During her stay, her understanding of equine biomechanics, muscle function and the most usual errors started to form. Thus, she got eager to work to promote the natural equine wellbeing and preventing the most common problems in that field.

She graduated as a physiotherapist from Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, and while doing her degree there, she also studied equine shiatsu, alias acupunctural equine massage. She also completed a course in equine kinesiology taping. Now she is doing equine shiatsu and equine kinesiology taping in addition to working as a physiotherapist. Her next career step is doing a master’s degree in veterinary physiotherapy.

References

“Joyful Hooves, alias Mira Nieminen did Equine Shiatsu to my horse Helmi. After a hard showjump training session, it was lovely to notice, how relaxed and happy the horse became. The horse was so pleasant to ride the next day!”

– Peterina, Nakkerpohjan Stable

“Mira massaged my horse Samba and managed to skillfully handle a young and a bit insecure mare, that is a bit sensitive when it comes to her hind legs. The horse relaxed when Mira was doing the treatment and clearly reacted to the acupressure and stretches. Even the following day, the horse felt relaxed and relieved, the moving was easy and balanced. This treatment arrived at a perfect time for us, because the musculature of this young horse is developing a lot right now and monitoring it and taking care of it is very important right now, so that no imbalances or stiffnesses occur. According to my experience, I can recommend this to others as well!”

– Taru

Let’s improve the training days of your horse: contact me and book an appointment!Or feel free to read more on the website.